Books

Understanding the Building Boom

This book seeks to explore the motivations behind the rapid development of museums in China.
It also aims to answer the questions such as “How is the public responding?” “Who pays for these museums and how?” “How has China’s rapid urbanization affected this trend?” “How do Chinese museums balance education, scientific research, social cohesion, cultural diplomacy, and tourism both internal and external?”

A GUIDE FOR MUSEUMS, PERFORMING ARTS, SCIENCE CENTERS, PUBLIC GARDENS, HERITAGE SITES, LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND ZOOS

The Manual of Strategic Planning for Cultural Organizations adopts a holistic approach to the creative world of cultural institutions. As cultural leaders transform the arts in the twenty-first century, this “whole career” manual will prepare readers for every stage.

The Manual of Digital Museum Planning is a comprehensive guide to digital planning, development, and operations for museum professionals and students of museums studies and arts administration.

Respected museums planners Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg demonstrate how and why cities and museums are using their soft power to address some of the most important issues of our time. This book brings together thirteen of the world’s leading cultural and museum experts to explore the many facets of soft power in museums across the globe.

Featuring contributions from 19 professionals immersed in the field of museum learning, The Manual of Museum Learning offers readers numerous lessons designed to help them transform their institutions into fully 21st century learning museums.

Since the first edition of this book was published in 2002, there has been a world-wide explosion of new galleries, exhibition halls, and new ideas on what an exhibition should be. Drawing on years of experience, Barry Lord and Maria Piacente detail an exhibition process that is both current and adaptable for institutions of any size.

Major cultural shifts have accompanied each energy transition since our mastery of fire. Art & Energy traces how the development of each new source of energy becomes a powerful engine of cultural change. Barry Lord also explores how stewardship of the earth must do battle with the culture of consumption which has gripped the planet and left us fixed on the still dominant energy sources, oil and gas.

As museums have taken on more complex roles in their communities and the number of museum stakeholders has increased to include a greater array of people, effective museum planning is more important than ever. The Manual of Museum Planning has become the definitive text for museum professionals, trustees, architects, and others who are concerned with the planning, design, construction, renovation, or expansion of a public gallery or museum.

In this book, Barry and Gail Lord focus their two lifetimes of international experience working in the cultural sector on the challenging questions of why and how culture changes. They situate their discourse on aesthetic culture within a broad and inclusive definition of culture in relation to material, physical and socio-political cultures.

The new edition of The Manual of Museum Management explores the management practices needed to navigate the demanding, ever-changing world of museum professionals. Case studies from experts in the field look at how museum professionals can work together to make an institution – of any size – function effectively.